In the field of livestock farming, it is usually necessary to move and dispense feed to the livestock. There are numerous prior art methods for delivering livestock feed. For example, a farmer may load a truck or wagon with a supply of feed and drive to one or more feeding locations. Once at a feeding location, the farmer will dispense a desired amount of feed, either manually or in some automated fashion. If dispensed manually, the farmer typically leaves the safety of the vehicle to manually dispense feed. In other examples, a dispensing mechanism may include an auger or other device for dispensing fee.
Dispensing feed manually is very labor intensive. In addition, depending on the type and disposition of the livestock, feeding the livestock manually carries some risk of injury. For example, when a farmer is standing amongst the livestock holding a 50 pound sack of feed, the livestock will typically attempt to get to the feed all at once, bumping into each other and potentially causing injury to the farmer. Another problem is that, whether dispensed manually or in an automated fashion, it can also be difficult to dispense a precise quantity of feed.
There is therefore a need for a feeder implement that functions as a mobile livestock feeder that is safe, accurate, and easy to operate. There is also a need for a mobile livestock feeder device that can deliver multiple types of feed.